Everything went wrong....

[Peein]

Hi guys,
I was on here a few months ago for some help, and I haven't had time to mess with the car until now.
My problems started with a bad starter. Well in the process of checking all the other possibilities first, I hooked my battery up backwards. Stupid I know, but it was dark and the way the cables were, it seemed right at the time. When I did this the horn starting going off. Does anyone know for sure if that's a feature this cars has?
Well after that I popped started the car and went to drive it around the block and as soon as I came to a stop it died and starting leaking what looks to be transmission fluid.
Now on top of the starter still being out, the clutch is out as well.
My question is this: Is it likely my clutch went out from popping it so much? Could it be just the clutch cable? Or does anyone suspect transmission problems?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys,
Ian


It is a '95 Contour V6.

 

[Pale Horse]

We need more information about what the problem is. Does the transmission not engage in any gear or is it stuck in one particular gear? Is the Clutch slipping badly or does it not grab at all? Does the pedal pressure feel different/mushy/completely flat? Describe the symptoms to the "T" and we'll be able to help more. Has any one recently done any work to the car? Did you leave the master cylinder cap off? Did you bleed the hydraulic lines? So on and so forth.....Have replaced axles lately. How many miles. Where is the leak coming from?

 

[posthuman63t]

We need more information about what the problem is. Does the transmission not engage in any gear or is it stuck in one particular gear? Is the Clutch slipping badly or does it not grab at all? Does the pedal pressure feel different/mushy/completely flat? Describe the symptoms to the "T" and we'll be able to help more. Has any one recently done any work to the car? Did you leave the master cylinder cap off? Did you bleed the hydraulic lines? So on and so forth.....Have replaced axles lately. How many miles. Where is the leak coming from?

Haha, after reading his post, I was about to ask the same. Need more info!!

 

[Peein]

Okay, sorry guys I'll go into a little more detail this time.
It's a '95 Contour V6 with 160k.

My problems began with a bad starter about 3 months ago. I live on a hill so I could pop the clutch to get me to work, when my g-friend had the van. I left the ignition on one day when I was tinkering, so my battery went dead. I took the battery in for a charge/test. Everything was good there. Well I didn't put the battery back in right away when I got home, and of course around midnight it started to rain. Guess what, my windows were down. So I rushed out to put the battery in so I could put my windows up, and I hooked the battery up backwards. I finally got most of the fuses replaced that blew, and my windows up.
The next day I went out and pop-started it and went to drive around the block and when I pulled up to the first stop sign it died on me. The clutch went out and it started to leak what appeared to be transmission fluid. I'm pretty sure it's not brake fluid, which is what lubricates the clutch, right? The clutch when it went out was very sudden, I pulled up to make the stop and it was just gone.
I haven't driven it since and all the fluid levels are still good, so whatever it was it didn't leak very much.
So now it sits with no starter and no clutch.

As for recent repairs: The slave cylinder was replaced about 2 months before all this. At first I was sure that this was the problem again, but when it was out it would drain my master cylinder. My brake fluid is still fine. Also, before I could get the clutch to engage even with the bad slave cylinder after a few pumps. Now I get nothing no matter how many times I pump it. It just goes straight to the floor, no resistance whatsoever. I inspected the clutch cable from the inside the car and it's good there, but I haven't been able to look under the car because of how it's sitting.

I'm unable to pinpoint the leak because it's not currently leaking and I can't start the car to try and make it leak either.

On a side note, I find it odd that an automotive troubleshooting forum has 5 happy emoticons but only 2 mad ones.

Any help would be great guys.
Thanks,
Ian

 

[Pale Horse]

Do you have brake pedal pressure??
I'm thinking it may still be the slave cylinder or even the master cylinder leaking.
Do you know how to bleed the Slave Cylinder? If not reply here and I'll tell you how. If you do, Have someone pump the clutch and hold it to the floor. Release the pressure on the Slave while that person is holding the clutch in. Then tighten it again when the pressure has been released. Have said friend pump the clutch and see if it can build pressure back. If not then there is a leak in the hydraulic line somewhere. This may also show you where the leak is coming from if enough pressure is built to push the fluid out of the leaking area. Get back to us...........

 

[posthuman63t]

good explanation on the bleeding. Thats also a good thing to check...you could have a buildup of air in there, it would be weird but it could be. Most likely a leaking line like mentioned before. A leak, loss of pressure, and no pedal would leave me to think an old line cracked or broke.

EDIT

Just listen to Pale Horse, he's got you going in the right direction

 

[Pale Horse]

Any updates on your problem PEEIN???

 

[Peein]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have no new info, been very busy. I have actually found a buyer though. The brother of the guy who put the slave cylinder on is interested because he has the same car so it works out pretty well.

As for releasing the pressure on the slave: I can't even get to it without taking it apart. When it first went out, a guy at Meineke told me that it should be pretty easy to replace. So I bought the part only to find out that it's mounted inside the clutch assembly. It's not accessible like some other slave cylinders. The guy that fixed it was not pleased with my car when he got done. This car tore him up, he had to basicly tear the car apart to even get to it. I kinda felt bad, because the book they use to estimate labor was way off. It said like 3 hours but it ended up being a day and half.

I just hope this guy comes through.
If not I'll try to see about the pressure build-up and go from there.

Thanks a ton guys,
Ian

 

[Pale Horse]

You and the mechanic are thinking about the Throw-out Bearing. That is the part inside the tranny. The slave Cylinder is mounted on the top front of the tranny case. I believe it is in the same location on all of the manual transmissions. It has a small nipple that sticks out that allows you to bleed the Hydraulic Line that goes from the Master Cylinder to the Slave Cylinder. Maybe someone can throw up a pic of what I'm talking about. There is no need to tear anything apart to get to this and do some deductive reasoning. Pic any one? I'll look around also.

 

[CSVT#49]

The slave Cylinder is mounted on the top front of the tranny case. I believe it is in the same location on all of the manual transmissions. It has a small nipple that sticks out that allows you to bleed the Hydraulic Line that goes from the Master Cylinder to the Slave Cylinder.

The slave cylinder and throw out bearing are one assembly. The nipple you speak of is attached to the assembly they replaced and yes you need to take the tranny just about all the way out to get at it and it involves dropping the subframe, which is why the mechanic was beat up over it. As it is no easy task.

Picture from the inside

Picture from outside